


[death dream]

by sarahshelena



Series: orphan black with dæmons [3]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Canon Autistic Character, Canonical Character Death, Daemons, F/F, Fire, Nightmares, Pre-Series, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-18 02:38:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11282031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahshelena/pseuds/sarahshelena
Summary: she was burning.





	[death dream]

**Author's Note:**

> i've made a [playlist](https://sarahshelena.tumblr.com/post/161974689148/i-need-my-girl-a-playlist-for-veera-and-niki-by) for these two, which can be found on my fanfic blog and listened to on spotify
> 
> * * *
> 
> AU based on the 'his dark materials' book universe by philip pullman in which people's souls live outside their bodies in the form of an animal that reflects their human's personality.)
> 
> same-sex dæmons are rare, but just to make this AU a little different, and to signify the rarity of clones, all genetic identicals have a dæmon the same gender as the one they themselves were assigned at birth. To simplify: the leda clones have female dæmons and the castor clones have male dæmons.
> 
> * * *
> 
> [veera's dæmon](https://sarahshelena.tumblr.com/post/159046345423/4-of-o-b-w-i-t-h-d-%C3%A6-m-o-n-s-by) is an arctic fox in summer coat, shown [here](https://sarahshelena.tumblr.com/tagged/arctic-fox)
> 
> [niki's dæmon](https://sarahshelena.tumblr.com/post/159231985918/10-of-o-b-w-i-t-h-d-%C3%A6-m-o-n-s-by) is a japanese marten shown [here](https://sarahshelena.tumblr.com/tagged/japanese-marten)
> 
> * * *
> 
> lyrics and title from 'death dream' by frightened rabbit

_white noise_  
_I don't know if there's breathing or not_  
_butterflied arms tell me that this one has flown_  
_blood seems black_  
_against the skin of your porcelain back_  
_a still life is the last I will see of you_  
_a painting of a panic attack_

* * *

She was burning.

Veera was crying, clothes smouldering and smoke in her lungs, and her hair had caught alight, but still she threw herself against the door that Niki was trapped behind, trying to force it open with her shoulder, her hip; all she could hear were Niki’s terrified, agonised screams. 

Claws scrabbled against both sides of the door, high-pitched squeaks from Niki’s side and frantic yelps from beside Veera — _she'd dropped Nyx._

But neither of them cared, they hurled their bodies against the door, trying to force it open, but no strength they possessed could shift it. 

Veera sobbed, she could still hear Niki, crying her name breathlessly, choking, and the fearful screams that grew in pitch until she was shrieking, and Veera could almost hear Niki’s fingernails tearing at her clothes and hair as they burned, the fire consuming them as it engulfed her. 

Veera had slid down the painted surface of the door; she now sat on the floor, boneless, empty. Her face rested against the door — just behind it lay Niki, now quiet. They couldn't hear Hemera's voice anymore. Nyx was burrowed against the fabric of Veera's shirt, weeping. 

There was no sound but the roar of the house fire, which was now eating through the door that Veera’s face was pressed against. Nyx tugged at her woman's shirtsleeve desperately, but the small fox-dæmon couldn't possibly move the dead weight that was Veera. She didn't recognise the heat as burning until her cheek began to melt. 

And then she began to scream. 

* * *

Waking in a sweat that felt like slick fire against her skin, Veera cried out and clutched her dæmon to her chest, sobbing uncontrollably before she'd fully awoken. She could still hear Niki’s voice, and it was tearing her heart.

She could still see Niki’s pale body, her skin dulled by death, dark blood dappled across the flesh stretched over her spine as she was brought out of the house. Such a shocking, shattered thing. 

Throwing herself upon the body, Veera had kissed Niki’s lips, still warm from the heat of the house fire, whispering goodbye, and then been firmly lifted off of the love of her life. 

That was one of the few times she'd ever seen Nyx truly angry; the slate-furred arctic fox curled up on Niki’s chest, snarling so fiercely that no one could come near, the medics’ dæmons kept back by the great taboo against touching another human. 

Nyx was forbidden by no such law; the love her woman held for the one she now crouched upon allowed her such liberties — and she wouldn't let these people carry Niki away to be buried where Veera could not come. 

But after a while, Veera’s sobs drew Nyx back into her arms, now that she had no one else to hold. 

Now, tangled in wash-worn sheets, Veera panted her way out of hyperventilation. Her eyes were still glazed over from the nightmare, but Nyx soothed her and licked away the tears that dribbled their way down her cheeks. Nyx lingered over Veera’s scars, and pressed her nose against them in a cold, gentle kiss, the painful reminder set in her flesh of what she had lost, and what she had yet to do. 

* * *

_death dreams you don't forget_  
__  
_it's been a while since I dreamed this but_  
_  
even now, when asleep, I'll tread with care_


End file.
